ABSTRACT
The chapter notes that with the growing use and popularity of the Internet, more and more people and businesses have made the leap into cyberspace to sell, advertise, or promote their company, name, products, or services. With this growing evolution, the inevitable clash over domain names has also grown. It further notes that as digital access and use continues to gain ground in Nigeria, there is a need to ensure its successful harmonisation with traditional trademark laws to facilitate the continued attainment of the objectives of trademark protection. This is particularly so with regard to the issue of the link between trademarks and domain names. A domain name is essentially the user-friendly form of the Internet equivalent to a telephone number or street address. It is the address of a person or organisation on the Internet where other people can find them online and it can also become the online identity of that person or organisation. This also provides fertile ground for trademark infringers. One of the most common avenues is that travelled by “cybersquatters.” It concludes that these diverse issues give rise to a need for legal responses to protect trademark owners and unsuspecting members of the public from the fraudulent antics of tricksters, and recommends that to achieve this objective, the 1965 Trademarks Act needs to be re-invigorated to respond to the emergence of the Internet, to safeguard businesses from the unauthorised exploitation of their names and goodwill in the online digital environment.
